The Kalīla and Dimna Research Bibliography contains over 2,100 bibliographical entries, on topics related to Kalīla and Dimna, 122 of which are Arabic manuscripts alone. A majority of these—manuscript sources, printed works, and secondary literature—is directly associated with the Book of Kalīla and Dimna in its different language versions and its various contexts. Further entries refer to specific topics of the research team members.

Most of the bibliographical entries are filed in thematic folders, and additionally tagged with keywords to help identify aspects related to our ongoing research. Transliterations for Arabic and Persian book titles follow the IJMES standard while using all diacritics.

The Kalīla and Dimna Research Bibliography is the most comprehensive reference collection on the subject and is available in Open Access. To access the research bibliography database, please go to ZOTERO access. ZOTERO is a free, user-friendly, and browser-integrated software that allows to export citations to various formats.

We encourage researchers all over the world to share the reference collection to advance their own research. At the same time, we are eager to welcome any contributions or suggestions. The Research Bibliography is a work in progress curated by Johannes Stephan, with the support of Alice Woolston and Mathea Glaubitz.

Kalīla and Dimna Research Bibliography - a short manual

Folders and Tags are the main organizational features for the Research Bibliography.

FOLDERS

Material with a direct link to Kalīla and Dimna is categorized in five folders.

I   Manuscripts known by the research team (more than 120 items)

II  Secondary Literature (more than 800 entries) related to Kalīla and Dimna (KD)

A: Research on the Arabic KD

B: Research on KD versions in other languages

C: Secondary literature on other works and themes with significant information on KD or providing wider context (e.g., the European reception of KD tales, book arts or mirrors for princes’ literature).

III  Printed Sources Including Online Resources (more than 250 entries) 

A: Editions and translations of KD in various languages

B: Works that mention/quote and paraphrase from KD (premodern)

IV  Vorläufer / Other Frame Narratives

Works associated because of a text-genealogical link (Vorläufer), or else sharing a similar transmission trajectory, structural features, and narrative materials.

V Research published by team members and partners on the project’s topic.

 

TAGS
Tags may overlap with folders while helping to identify more specific research areas.
As a main organizational feature we use Meta Keywords (nine coloured tags at the top of our tag list) and the abbreviation ˈKDˈ. Users are advised to see the tag list: here, the use of ˈKDˈ will focus a search for Kalīla-and-Dimna related entries, e.g. KD version, KD edition, KD chapter, KD illustrations, KD indirect tradition, etc.